What Is Health At Every Size (HAES)?
What is “healthy”? How are we defining health? How does a healthy body function in the world? What makes a body feel healthy?
One common misconception about Health at Every Size (HAES) is that it glorifies obesity. This is not the case. HAES asserts that all bodies can be healthy, even if they don’t conform to the conventional image of “healthy” (i.e., thin, lean, muscular). Conversely, HAES recognizes that being thin does not automatically equate to being healthy. HAES is rooted in body acceptance rather than focusing solely on body shape. This perspective highlights that everyone has a body, which has the potential for both good and bad health, depending on how we choose to treat it.
When adopting the HAES approach, we examine each person's unique body. We consider how it functions in the world, what makes it feel better and healthier, and how we define health itself. The creator of Health at Every Size, Dr. Lindo Bacon, researched diet culture, weight, and their interactions over time. Dr. Bacon discovered that the body has a “set point,” which is the weight range in which it typically functions most optimally—usually about a 10-pound range. Chronic illnesses can affect this set point, but there is limited research on how chronic medical conditions influence body weight set points.
Health is a complex concept influenced by numerous factors, including exercise, diet, how we treat ourselves, and our feelings toward our bodies. The HAES approach treats all bodies as valuable and emphasizes the importance of function and feelings over appearance or weight.
TL;DR
All body types can be healthy.
Thin ≠ Healthy
The body has a weight “set point” (approximately a 10-pound range) that may fluctuate.
Dr. Lindo Bacon founded the HAES approach after researching diet culture, weight, and their interactions over time.
Weight loss is not the goal when using a HAES approach. The goal is to focus on body function and feel.
For more information on HAES, I recommend checking out Dr. Bacon’s books (listed in references)!
References
Bacon, L. (2008). Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight. BenBella Books.
Bacon, L., Bacon, L., & Aphramor, L. (2014). Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight. BenBella Books.